Mechanism for closing filled bags



May 22, 1934. p. GANGLER 1,959,577

MECHANISM FOR CLOSING FILLED BAGS Filed Oct. 1, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 22, 1934. p GANGLER 1,959,577

MECHANISM FOR CLOSING FILLED BAGS Filed Oct. 1, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tllig Paul Ganglia EN J [I NTO H' Patented May '22, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,959,577 MECHANISM FOR CLOSING FILLED BAGS Application October 1, 1932, Serial No. 635,750 In Germany November 2, 1931 4 Claims.

My invention relates to bag filling and closing machines, and more particularly to a folding mechanism in said machines for 'closing tightly the empty end portion of the filled bag pro- 5 jecting beyond its contents, in such a way that a flap of said portion is folded down upon the contents by a central pivotally mounted folding slide of the folding mechanism, which is adapted to perform a downward tilting motion during its folding stroke, and that the twoadjacent side flaps of said portion are folded down outwardly into a substantially horizontal position by two lateral folding plates adapted to be swung from their initial vertical position outwards into a horizontal position, further folding means being provided and adapted to fold inwardly the still upstanding flap of the empty bag end, to press down the said two laterally extending side flaps, and to fold these two side flaps inwardly upon the upper surface of the bag to finish the closure of the same.

Particularly, my invention consists in an improvement of such folding mechanism forming part of the bag filling and closing machine described in Letters Patent 1,904,131 issued to me in which the said two lateral folding plates are pivotally mounted on either side on said central folding slide by means of suitable hinges, which are provided with lateral outwardly extending abutments bearing rollers or the like, and in which suitable press members arranged above said rollers for vertical reciprocation, are so operated that owing to their reciprocation, the said two lateral folders are, after the advance of the central folding slide, turned outwardly in order to fold down and outwardly the lateral flaps of the upper bag portion in the form of points or ears, and are, prior to the withdrawal of said central folding slide, swung upwards again before they issue from the said lateral ears. This has the drawback that the said lateral points or cars are liable to be disturbed and forced out of their flat horizontal position and to alfect unfavorably the accurate closure of the bag, because the means which will now have to press down the folded down lateral flaps, cannot certainly ensure a smooth pressing down of the folded flaps, when the lateral ears have been thrown into disorder.

To eliminate this drawback, provisions are made according to my, present invention adapted to hold the aforesaid lateral abutments of the hinges of the two lateral folding plates during the withdrawal of these folding plates in their lower horizontal position by means of the above mentioned vertically reciprocating press members until the lateral folders have issued from the folds formed by them. The lateral points or cars of the bag are consequently also held in their folded down position by the said lateral folders during their return, so that a smooth and flat pressing and folding of the lateral flaps is ensured, and a neat correct top closure of the bag is attained thereby.

An embodiment of my invention is shown, by 66 way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side-elevation of the improved mechanism,

Fig.- 2 is a detail of Fig. 1 in sectional plan, 70

Fig. 3 is a further detail of Fig. 1 in elevation,

Fig. 4 is a front-elevation of Fig. 1, viewed from the left, and

Fig. 5 shows the mechanism in plan.

As fully described and illustrated in my said '16 Patent 1,904,131, the bags P are supported in the feeding mechanism of the bag filling and closing machine by bottom plates 12 within suitable and known receptacles, said plates 12 being secured by bolts l3 to the said feeding mechanism which is operated in the well known manner so as to con'ey the bags successively to the various stations of the machine. The bag P shown in the accompanying drawings has been filled with the material to be packed, as also fully described and illustrated in my said patent, and it has then been conveyed by the feeding mechanism of the machine to the station illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The mechanism provided at this station for folding or creasing the upper empty end of the filled bag P in order to produce the closure of the same, consists substantially of the central folding slide 61 which during its forward or operative stroke performs a tilting motion from an initial inclined position (not shown in the drawings) into the horizontal plane, and of the two lateral folding plates or folders 62 and 62a. adapted to be swung from their initial vertical position downwards and outwards, as well as of the folder arranged opposite to said central folding slide and operated to fold down the fourth flap of the upper bag portion and to press down and smooth out the other folds.

As described in my aforesaid patent, the central folding slide 61 and the two lateral folders 62, 62a are mounted on a suitable carriage '56, which at its underside is provided with a rail 57 resting upon a stationary guide roller' 59.

The roller 59 is by means of a pin 59a journaled in the upper end of an arm 86 secured to a bracket 76 which is mounted on the machine table 80. The carriage 56 and the folding device mounted on it are horizontally reciprocated by means of a bell-crank lever 54. This lever is adapted to rock upon a shaft 55 supported in the said bracket 76. The other arm 54' of the bell-cranklever 54 is engaged. by a connecting rod 77 pivoted to another bell-crank lever 78. This lever is adapted to oscillate upon a shaft 79 journaled in suitable brackets secured to the machine table 80, one of said brackets being indicated at 81 in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings. The other free end of the bell-crank lever 78 carries an anti-friction roller 82 which is drawn by a spring (not shown) against the periphery of an eccentric 83 mounted on the driving shaft 85 which is continuously rotated by any suitable means (not shown). The cam-shaped-running face of the rail 57 is so formed that the carriage 56 in its withdrawn position, not shown, assumes a position directed obliquely upwards, and during its advance is tilted into the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1, together with thefolding plate 61 said plate folding down upon the contents of the bag P the adjacent flap of the upper empty bag portion. The folding slide 61 is interchangeably secured to the front edge of the folding carriage 56 in order to enable the folding mechanism to be adapted for packages of various sizes.

For supporting the lateral folding plates 62 and 62a, bearings 61d and 61c are provided, which are transversely mounted on the carriage 56. For adjusting the lateral folders for different sizes of packages, the two bearings 61d and 61e are adapted to be displaced longitudinally within each other and provided with longi- 4 tudinal slots 61' for attachment to the carriage 56 by means of a suitable screw bolt. In the bushes of the bearing members 61d and. 6le there are journaled pins 63 and 63a upon which are secured the lateral folders 62 and 62a by means of their eyes 625, 62c and 62d, 62c.

Upon the pins 63 and 634: there are also secured lever-like abutments 65 and 65a angularly displaced in relation to the said lateral folders 62 and 62a, as shown in Fig. 4. The ends of the abutments or levers 65 and 65a are,

in the embodiment illustrated, formed as cups 22 and 23 which receive and encircle freely rotatable balls 24 and 25. Between the levers 65, 65a and an angular holder secured to the carriage 56, there are secured tension springs 40 and 41 which tend to maintain the levers 65, 65a in their position shown in full lines.in Fig. 4 and to hold the lateral folding plates 62 and 62a in their vertical position.

To allow the balls 24, 25 to be inserted into the said cups 22, 23, the upper edges of the cups have prior to the reception of the balls a diameter slightly in excess of the diameter of the balls. After the balls have been placed into the cup-like sockets 22,'23, the upper edges of the latter are then. reduced by caulking them indrawings. The said press-members 67 and 67a are so constructed and operated that during the withdrawal of the described folding unit from its advanced operative position shown in the drawings into its rear inoperative position, the levers 65, 65a will maintain their lower position and thereby hold the lateral folders 62 and 62a in their horizontal position, until the lateral folders have been withdrawn from the horizontal points or tucks formed by them and indicated at e, e, Fig. 5.

In the device illustrated by way of example, the said press members are designed as vertically reciprocable guide rails 67 and 67a which extend above the balls 24 and 25 for a length required for the described end in view. The up and down motion of the guide rails 67. 67a may be effected by securing the rails to-angular members 32 and 33 which in their turn are secured for vertical adjustment in guides 34 and 35 of a bifurcated arm 36, so that the level or elevation of the rails 67 and 67a may .be adjusted by means of the angular members 32, 33. The

transverse arm 36 has a bushing 37 secured to a rod 38 which is vertically guided in suitable eyes 76a and 76b of the bracket 76. The lowerend of the rod 38 carries a clamping sleeve 90 pivoted to a connecting link 91 to the lower end of which is pivoted a lever 92 keyed to the shaft 79. Upon this shaft is also secured a lever 93, which has an anti-friction" roller 94 held by a spring (not shown) against the periphery of an eccentric 95 on the driving shaft 85.

The folding roller is journaled in the bifurcated end of a lever 96 which is pivoted by a bolt 99 to the bifurcated end 97, 98 of a bellcrank lever 115. To the other free end of the arm 96 is secured a horizontally extendingsliderail 101 resting upon a'roller 102. Two tension springs 105, one of which onlyis shown in Fig. 1,

engage the lever 96 atgeither side and keep the slide rail 101 in contact with the said guide roller'102 and permit of a yielding action of the folding roller 75 during its travel over the flaps of the bag P. The roller 102 is iournalled by means of a pin 102 in the bracket 106 secured to a pedestal 107, which is mounted on the machine table 80 in any suitable manner. The bell-crank lever mentioned above is adapted to rock upon the shaft 55 and has its free end hinged to an operating rod.116. Theother end of this rod is engaged by one arm of a doublearmed lever 117 adapted to rock upon the shaft The mode of operation of the device is as follows: After the filled bag P'has been conveyed underneath the folding device by the conveying device of the bag filling and closing machine, the rail 56 is advanced from its rear inoperative position, not shown in the drawings, into the position shown in the drawings, by means of the lever 54 and its operating mechanism described, the carriage 56 with the folding slide 61 performing a tilting motion due to the cooperation of the cam-shaped running face of the rail 57 with the guide roller59 and folding the adjacent or front flap of the upper empty end of the bag .tighth' inwards. Now the rails 67 and 67a are lowered into the position (67) and (67a) shown in broken'linesin Fig. 4, by means of the rod 38 and .its described operating "mechanism, and press up the freely rotatable balls 24 and 25 of the arms and 65a and thus swing these arms downwards. As the lateral folders 62 and 62a as well as the arms 65 and 65a are firmly secured to the rotatable pins 63, 6311, the lateral folders 62 and 62a are swung outwards into their horizontal position shown at (62) and (62a) in Fig. 4 and thereby fold the side flaps of the upper empty end of the bag outwards into the horizontal position in the form of tips or ears. On the return of the described folding device into its initial position, the guide rails 6'1, 67a remain in their lower position until the lateral folders 62 and 620. have been withdrawn from the folded ears formed by them, the balls 24 and 25 rolling along the lower faces of the rails 67 and 67a. By the maintenance of the horizontal position of the lateral folders 62, 62a, up ward movement or opening of the lateral ears, which would adversely affect the neatness of the folded end of the bag, is effectively prevented, so that on the withdrawal of this set of folding plates, the folding roller '15 which is now moved to the left in Fig. 1 by its operating mechanism described above folds down the last flap of the bag and produces sharply edged folds or creases.

After the return of the folding and smoothing roller 75, the lateral ears formedby the folders 62, 62a will be folded inwardly, for instance by the folding means described and illustrated in'my said Patent 1,904,131.

It will be understood that instead of the balls 24 and 25, rollers might equally well be employed, which must then be suitably journaled in the ends of the arms 65 and 6511.. In this case, the rails 67, 67a are preferably provided with operative knife-like edges at their lower faces. Instead of the rails 67 and 67a, shorter press members might also be employed, which then must participate in a suitable and sufiicient manner in the backward movement of the said arms 65 65a during the withdrawal of the folding device and in their lowered position, and which are again raised and returned into their front position after the withdrawal of the lateral folding plates 62, 62m from the folded ears has been completed. The present invention is equally adapted for folding mechanisms of the present kind in which the central folding slide 61 is arranged horizontally and displaced mereype specified for closportion of filled bags, comfolding slide for folding bag end, two lateral norwith lateral outwardly extending abutments, operating means for moving the central folder together with the two lateral folders into operative position and for withdrawing the same from this position, press members arranged for vertical reciprocation and adapted to move in their downwards movement the said lateral abutments down for turning outwardly the said lateral folders, and operating means adapted to control said press members so as to hold down said lateral abutments in their lowered position until the said two lateral folders have been withdrawn from the lateral ears folded by them.

2. A mechanism of the type specified for closing the upper end portion of filled bags, comprising a central folding plate for folding inwards a flap of said bag end, two normally vertical lateral folding plates adapted to be turned outwardly for folding horizontally outwards the adjoining side flaps, said two lateral folding plates being pivotally mounted on either side on said central folder plate and provided with lateral outwardly extending lever-like abutments bearing rollers, operating means for moving the central folder together with the two lateral folders into operative position and for withdrawing the same from this position, press members arranged above the said rollers for a vertical reciprocation and adapted to move in their downwards movement the said rollers with their abutment levers down for turning outwardly the said lateral folders, and operating means adapted to control said press member so as to hold down said lateral abutment levers in their lowered position until the said two lateral folders have been withdrawn from the lateral ears folded by them.

3. A mechanism of the type specified for closing the upper end portion of filled bags, comprising a central folding plate for folding inwards the adjacent flap of the said bag end. two lateral folding plates adapted to be turned outwardly for folding horizontally outwards the adjoining side flaps of the bag end, said two lateral folding plates being pivotally connected to either side to said central folder plate and rigidly connected with lateral outwardly extending abutments, operating means adapted to reciprocate the central folding plate together with the two lateral folding plates forward into and backward out of their operative position, and guide rails arranged for vertical reciprocation above said abutments and extending along the horizontal path described by these abutments during the reciprocation of the folders, said guide rails being adapted to move in their downward movement the said abutments down for turning outwardly the said lateral folders and to hold down said abutmentsintheirloweredpositionuntilthesaid two lateral folders have been withdrawn from the lateral ears folded by them. 

